Most sixteen/seventeen year old kids, they make a bad choice. Something gets broken, they screw up in class, hurt somebody's feelings, show up at the prom drunk. They get sent to the Principal office, have their car keys taken away or get grounded. Then there's kids that make a bad choice, somebody ends up shot dead in a parking lot. Those kids get sent here.

Sean Porter (Dwayne Johnson) works at Kilpatrick Detention Center in Los Angeles. Frustrated by not being able to help the young kids get away from the problems in life, such as street gangs he decides to create a football team for the kids to feel a part of something. Porter believes that football will teach the teenage inmates what it takes to be responsible, teammates, and be winners. He picks out a few kids in the room that he feels will benefit from this program and requires that they practice with him the following day. He states to his new team, the Kilpatrick Mustangs, Two of the teens do not get along because they are from rival gangs. Willie Weathers (Jade Yorker) is from the 88’s and Kelvin Owens (David Thomas) is from the 95’s.

The first game is against the best team in the league, Barrington. The game starts out somewhat positive for the Mustangs, as they recover a fumble on the first drive, but things quickly turn. They are demolished by Barrington, losing by 38 points. After starting 0-2, the Mustangs start winning games as they learn to work together. Kelvin and Willie finally shake each others' hands when they win a game by one touchdown after Kelvin makes a big block for Willie. Near the end of the season, the Mustangs are headed for the playoffs. They are getting more publicity and more fans along the way.

One of Willie’s 88 gang mate named Free stops by the field. He realizes that Kelvin is a 95. Free and Kelvin get into a fight, and Free pulls out a gun and shoots Kelvin in the shoulder. As Free prepares to put another bullet in Kelvin's head, Willie runs toward his old gangmate and tackles him to the ground to save Kelvin. Free is shocked that Willie helped Kelvin and not him. Then the police show up, and Free runs off. He fires at the responding officers who return fire, killing him. Although Kelvin survives the attack, he will not be able to play in the finals. In the next game ironically against Barrington, the team that beat them by 38 points earlier in the season the Mustangs go into the half down 14-0. Willie gives a motivational speech, and they go out and beat Barrington on the last play of the game. It is revealed in the narration that they lost the championship game, but no one called them losers. A few months later, Sean's football method is officially made part of the program.

Nearly all the kids who were on the Mustangs are now somewhere doing good things. Willie Weathers is playing football for a top boarding school, Kelvin Owens is playing football for Washington High, Kenny Bates is living back with his mother, Junior Palaita is working for a furniture company. Unfortunately, five are back in jail, and Bug Wendall was killed in a drive by shooting in Compton.